Skip to main content

All Questions

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
7 votes
0 answers
141 views

Average number of $\mathbb{F}_p$-points over twists of a variety

Let $p \gg 1$ be a sufficiently large prime. I recently stumbled across a fascinating fact about the number of $\mathbb{F}_p$-points on elliptic curves over finite fields. Specifically, we have: Fact ...
Ashvin Swaminathan's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
300 views

An example of a geometrically simply connected variety with infinite Brauer group (modulo constants)

$\DeclareMathOperator\Br{Br}$Let $X$ be a smooth, geometrically integral, geometrically simply connected variety over a numberfield $k$. Is it possible to have $\Br(X)/{\Br(k)}$ being an infinite ...
Victor de Vries's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
917 views

Does this conic have a rational point?

Consider the conic $$C = \{X^2+uY^2+vZ^2=0\}\subset\mathbb{P}^2_{\mathbb{Q}(u,v)}$$ over the function field $\mathbb{Q}(u,v)$. Does $C$ have a $\mathbb{Q}(u,v)$-rational point?
Puzzled's user avatar
  • 8,998
3 votes
1 answer
303 views

Leading constant in Batyrev-Tschinkel's refinement of Manin conjecture

Background: Let $X$ be a Fano variety over number field $K$, where its anticanonical bundle $K_X^{-1}$ is ample. Let $i: X \to \mathbb{P}^n$ be the anticanonical embedding, where $K_X^{-m} \cong i_*O(...
dummy's user avatar
  • 267
3 votes
0 answers
170 views

Smoothness of height in Manin conjecture

Set up: Let $K$ be a number field. Let $M_K$ be the places of $K$, and define the standard height on $\mathbb{P}^n(K)$ as $$H([x_0, \cdots, x_n]) = \prod_{v \in M_K} \max\{|x_0|_v, \cdots, |x_n|_v\}$$ ...
dummy's user avatar
  • 267
5 votes
2 answers
572 views

Birational geometry over finite fields

I apologize in advance since probably my questions are very naive. I would like to understand some central notions in birational geometry, that are clear to me over the complex numbers, for varieties ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
719 views

Number of points of a quadric hypersurface over a finite field

Let $k = \mathbb{F}_q$ be a finite field with $q$ elements and $Q\subset\mathbb{P}^n_k$ a quadric hypersurface defined over $k$. By the Chevalley-Warning theorem if $n\geq 2$ then $Q$ has a point. Is ...
Puzzled's user avatar
  • 8,998
3 votes
1 answer
309 views

Smooth surfaces in positive characteristic

Let $K = \mathbb{F}_p$ be a field of positive characteristic $p > 0$. Consider a surface in $\mathbb{A}^3_K$ of the following form $$ S = \{f_1(x_0)y_0^2+f_2(x_0)y_0y_1+f_3(x_0)y_0+f_4(x_0)y_1^2+...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
261 views

Rational points on a special class of surfaces

Consider a smooth surface of the following form $$ S = \{f(x,y,t) = p_0(t)x^2+p_1(t)xy+p_2(t)x+p_3(t)y^2+p_4(t)y+p_5(t) = 0\}\subset\mathbb{A}^3 $$ over $\mathbb{Q}$, and set $$ U_S = \{t' \in \mathbb{...
Puzzled's user avatar
  • 8,998
-1 votes
1 answer
131 views

Does this quadratic system admit an integral or a rational solution?

Let $a,b$ be coprime and say $0<a<b<2a$. Consider the quadratic system: $$\alpha\delta-\beta\gamma=1$$ $$(\alpha^2-(\alpha\delta+\beta\gamma))a^2b+\beta^2b^3+(2\alpha\beta-\beta\delta)ab^2-\...
Turbo's user avatar
  • 13.9k
4 votes
1 answer
252 views

Finding the $K=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{6})$-rational points on the twist of $X_{0}(26)$

Let $K=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{6})$. I am looking to determine all $K$-rational points on the curve $$C: y^{2}=3x^6-24x^5+24x^4-54x^3+24x^2-24x+3.$$ More precisely, $C$ is a twist of the modular curve $X_{0}(...
Maleeha's user avatar
  • 83
4 votes
1 answer
322 views

Del Pezzo surfaces of degree four and complete intersections of two quadrics

Let $X = Q_1\cap Q_2$ be a complete intersection of two smooth quadrics, over a field $K$, in $\mathbb{P}^4$ with homogeneous coordinates $y_0,y_1,y_2,y_3,y_4$. Set $Q_1 = \{F_1 = 0\}$ and $Q_2 = \{...
Puzzled's user avatar
  • 8,998
5 votes
1 answer
576 views

Lines on quadric surfaces

Consider a smooth quadric surface $Q\subset\mathbb{P}^3$ over a field $k$. Are there natural hypotheses one can put on $k$ in order to ensure the existence of a line defined over $k$ on $Q$?
Puzzled's user avatar
  • 8,998
3 votes
1 answer
401 views

Rational points of bounded height on a variety

I would like to ask for some clarification on the following argument which I can not quite understand. There is a variety $X$ of dimension $n$ over a number field with a degree two map $f:X\...
Puzzled's user avatar
  • 8,998
4 votes
0 answers
129 views

Statistics about existence of rational points on a curve over $\mathbb{F}_q$

I wish to ask the naive question: if we write down a random curve $C$ over $\mathbb{F}_q$, what can be said about the probability that $C(\mathbb{F}_q)=\emptyset$? Of course, this depends on the ...
Cheng-Chiang Tsai's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
1k views

Possible groups of K-rational points for elliptic curves over arbitrary fields

It is known that the group $C(\Bbb R)$ has at most two connected components, and the connected component of the identity is isomorphic to $U(1)$ as a topological group (trivially) and $C(\Bbb Q)$ is ...
FusRoDah's user avatar
  • 3,738
22 votes
5 answers
7k views

Rational points on a sphere in $\mathbb{R}^d$

Call a point of $\mathbb{R}^d$ rational if all its $d$ coordinates are rational numbers. Q1. Are the rational points dense on the unit sphere $S :\; x_1^2 +\cdots+ x_d^2 = 1$, i.e. does $S$ ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
2k views

What is the smallest sphere whose surface includes 100 integer points?

Let $S(r)$ be the surface of the origin-centered sphere in $\mathbb{R}^3$. A point is an integer point if all its coordinates are integers. What is the smallest radius $r_n$ such that $S(r_n)$ ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
199 views

Maximum dimension of a simultaneous anisotropic subspace of quadratic forms over $ \mathbb{Q} $

Let $(V,q )$ be a quadratic space over $ \mathbb{Q} $. A subspace $ U $ is called totally isotropic if $ q(x) = 0 $ for all $ x \in U $ and a subspace $ U $ is called an anisotropic subspace if $ ...
Sky's user avatar
  • 923
20 votes
3 answers
2k views

what is the maximum number of rational points of a curve of genus 2 over the rationals

Conjecturally, there exists an integer $n$ such that the number of rational points of a genus $2$ curve over $\mathbf{Q}$ is at most $n$. (This follows from the Bombieri-Lang conjecture.) We are ...
Dirk's user avatar
  • 209
4 votes
0 answers
195 views

Rational points on ramified coverings of abelian varieties

Let $K$ be a number field $A$ an abelian variety over $K$ and $f: X \to A$ a possibly ramified covering of degree $d$ with $X$ a proper variety. My question is: Suppose that $f(X(K)) \neq A(K)$, can ...
Maarten Derickx's user avatar
11 votes
5 answers
4k views

How much do I need to learn algebraic geometry to understand arithmetics over number fields

I am at the stage of learning. Mostly, I am attracted by algebraic number theory. Roughly speaking, I am interested in the rational points of algebraic varieties. I am little bit afraid to start to ...
Ofra's user avatar
  • 1,613
17 votes
1 answer
349 views

Why should the number of $\mathbb{F}_q$ points on degree $d$ curves $C\subset \mathbb{P}_{\mathbb{F}_q}^n$ decrease as $n$ increases?

This question concerns some counterintuitive results (to me at least) regarding the number of points on a projective curve over a finite field. Namely, if one fixes the degree of the curve, but ...
TomGrubb's user avatar
  • 293
20 votes
2 answers
2k views

Rational points on the "quintic circle" $x^5 + y^5 = 7$

I suspect that the curve $x^5 + y^5=7$ has no $\mathbb Q$ points, and a brief computer search verifies this hypothesis for denominators up to $10^4$. What techniques can be used to show that there are ...
pre-kidney's user avatar
  • 1,329
5 votes
0 answers
303 views

2-descent on elliptic curves, and units modulo squares of units

Setup: Let $p$ be a prime, let $f(x) \in \mathbb{Q}_p[x]$ be a separable monic cubic polynomial cutting out the maximal order $\mathcal{O}_{K_f}$ in the etale algebra $K_f := \mathbb{Q}_p[x]/(f(x))$, ...
Ashvin Swaminathan's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
233 views

Rational points on varieties whose anticanonical bundle is nef but not ample

Is the following plausible? "If $X$ is a variety over $\mathbf{Q}$ whose anticanonical bundle $L$ is nef but not ample, there is a number field $K$ such that $X(K)$ contains an infinite set of ...
JSE's user avatar
  • 19.2k
10 votes
0 answers
217 views

Are the nonnegative rationals diophantine with only two quantifiers?

Definition: A subset $D\subseteq \mathbb{Q}$ is diophantine if it is the projection of the zero set of a polynomial, i.e. there exists a polynomial $f\in\mathbb{Q}[X,Y_1,\dots,Y_n]$ for some $n$ such ...
Arno Fehm's user avatar
  • 2,051
2 votes
1 answer
187 views

Is every sufficiently general monic quartic rational square infinitely often?

Let $f(x)=x^4+b_3 x^3+ b_2 x^2+b_1 x + b_0$. Let $g(x)=x^4 f(1/x)$. Let $C : g(x)=y^2$. $C$ is birationally equivalent to $f(x)=y^2$. The constant coefficient of $g(x)$ is $1$ since $f$ is monic and $(...
joro's user avatar
  • 25.4k
1 vote
0 answers
194 views

Brauer-Manin obstruction and affine curves

I'm looking for references that can justify to what extent is the following statement true: Statement. Let $X$ be a smooth geometrically integral curve over a number field $k$. Then the Brauer-Manin ...
oleout's user avatar
  • 895
2 votes
0 answers
198 views

Finding rational points via birational map

Let $C$ be an affine curve given by $p_C(x,y)=0$ where $$ p_C=2x^3y + 2xy^3 +x^3 + y^3 + 5x^2y + 5xy^2 + 2x^2 + 2y^2 + 2x^2y^2 + 2xy $$ and let $\overline{C}$ denote the projective closure of $C$. For ...
monoid911's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
218 views

Subfields of Hilbertian fields

This question is about the Remark on the top of page 22 of Serre's Topics in Galois Theory, available here : http://www.ms.uky.edu/~sohum/ma561/notes/workspace/books/serre_galois_theory.pdf My ...
Harry's user avatar
  • 353
2 votes
1 answer
188 views

Criterion for existence of integral points on an elliptic curve

Is there a criterion for the (presumably infinite) set of $D \in \mathbb{Z}\setminus \{0\}$ such that $$Dy^2 = x^3-1728$$ has an integral point over $\mathbb{Q}$ with $y \neq 0$? I'd also be ...
bean's user avatar
  • 479
5 votes
0 answers
184 views

Given a point $P$ on a genus-$1$ curve over $\mathbb{Q}_p$, is there an $R$ such that $2 \mid [P - R]$ and $x(\overline{P}) \neq x(\overline{R})$?

Let $p \in \mathbb{Z}$ be prime, and let $f \in \mathbb{Z}_p[x]$ be a quartic polynomial with nonzero discriminant. Let $C/\mathbb{Q}_p$ be the genus-$1$ curve with affine equation $y^2 = f(x)$. Let $\...
IMT's user avatar
  • 53
16 votes
0 answers
275 views

Why should an abelian variety with few places of bad reduction and a lot of endomorphisms not have many points?

In the paper "Points of Order 13 on Elliptic Curves" by Mazur-Tate, they say in the introduction: It seemed ... that if such an abelian variety $J$, which has bad reduction at only one ...
Asvin's user avatar
  • 7,746
16 votes
2 answers
503 views

Number of height-limited rational points on a circle

Consider origin-centered circles $C(r)$ of radius $r \le 1$. I am seeking to learn how many rational points might lie on $C(r)$, where each rational point coordinate has height $\le h$. For example, ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
445 views

primes of multiplicative reduction for elliptic curves with rational $\ell$-torsion

Very recently, I made an observation from scanning lists of elliptic curves on the LMFDB that leads me to the following (unproven) statement: Fix $\ell \in \{5, 7\}$. Let $E$ be an elliptic curve ...
Jeff Yelton's user avatar
  • 1,298
11 votes
1 answer
702 views

Galois Representations and Rational Points

Suppose $X$ and $Y$ are two connected smooth projective varieties over $\mathbb{Q}$ (of the same dimension) that have the same $\ell$-adic Galois representations (up to semisimplification). What is ...
user103716's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
135 views

Distribution of rational points in the real locus of a planar algebraic curve

Let $C$ be a smooth projective geometrically connected curve over $\mathbb{Q}$. Assume that $g(C)=3$ and that $C$ is not hyperelliptic. Then the canonical sheaf defines a closed immersion $C\to\mathbb{...
user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
339 views

Integral points on affine varieties

Consider Siegel's theorem. It says that for a smooth affine algebraic curve $C$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ such that $g(C)>0$ any model $\mathcal{C}$ of $C$ over $\mathbb{Z}$ has finitely many $\mathbb{Z}$-...
user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
328 views

Submersion implies many rational points in image?

Let $A \colon V \to W$ be a surjective linear map (defined over $\mathbb{Z}$), inducing a projection $\alpha \colon \mathbb{P}(V) \to \mathbb{P}(W)$. Let $X \subseteq \mathbb{P}(V)$ and $Y \...
darko's user avatar
  • 269
7 votes
1 answer
557 views

Does Chabauty-Coleman method give an algorithm for finding rational points?

Let $X$ be a curve of genus $g\geq 2$ over a number field $K$. If $\mathrm{rk} \,\mathrm{Jac}\, X$ is less than $g$ there is a $p$-adic method of bounding $\# X(K)$ due to Chabauty and Coleman (see ...
SashaP's user avatar
  • 7,377
0 votes
0 answers
279 views

Computing the genus of a plane curve

Let $b(x)=x^4 + 3x^3 + 3x^2 + 2x + 1$, and let $a(x)\in \mathbb Z[x]$ be a separable polynomial. Let $C$ be the plane curve defined by $(y^2+(x+x^2+x^3)a(x))^2-a(x)^2b(x)=0$. I would need to show that ...
user36371's user avatar
  • 101
2 votes
1 answer
657 views

Rational points on open subsets of affine space [closed]

Let $k$ be an infinite field. Assume that the index of the algebraic closure $\bar{k}$ over $k$ is strictly greater than $2$. Let $U$ be a non-empty open subset of some affine space over $k$. Is it ...
user43198's user avatar
  • 1,981
9 votes
1 answer
962 views

Average height of rational points on a curve

I am seeking a formalism to define the average height of the rational points on a curve. This is straightforward if the number of points is finite, but (to me) not straightforward when the rational ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
185 views

If $X$ is a genus $g\geq 2$ curve over a number field $K$, then is there a bound on $X_L(L)$ for $L/K$ that depends only on $X$ and $[L:K]$?

If $X$ is a genus $g\geq 2$ curve over a number field $K$, then $X(K)$ is finite by Falting's Theorem. My question is how does $X_L(L)$ behave for finite field extensions $L/K$? In particular, is ...
Andrew NC's user avatar
  • 2,081
6 votes
0 answers
438 views

Brauer-Manin obstruction to surfaces of Kodaira dimension 1

Roughly speaking, the Kodaira dimension is an invariant of a variety that corresponds to curvature. One can show that curves of genus $\geq 2$ have Kodaira dimension 1 using Riemann-Roch. In Corollary ...
Jackson Morrow's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
683 views

Circles avoiding rational points of height $\le h$

Q. Which origin-centered circles $C(r)$ (or spheres in dimension $d$) of radius $r < 1$ avoid all rational points of height $\le h$? A rational point is a point all of whose coordinates are ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
440 views

Rational points on towers of curves

Let $\ldots \to X_n \to X_{n-1} \to \ldots \to X_0$ be etale maps between smooth projective curves of genera $g(X_n)>1$, all defined over a fixed number field $K$. By Faltings' Theorem, we know ...
Piotr Achinger's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
825 views

Understanding Siegel's Theorem on integral points

Siegel's theorem states the following: Let $C$ be a smooth projective curve over a number field $K$. Let $\tilde C\subset C$ be an open affine subvariety, and $i:\tilde C\hookrightarrow \mathbb{A}^...
Andrew NC's user avatar
  • 2,081
17 votes
1 answer
2k views

Rational points à la Chabauty-Coleman

I have been trying to learn the method of Chabauty and Coleman to find rational points on curves; I have been reading an exposition by McCallum and Poonen which was pointed out to me by Emerton in ...
Barinder Banwait's user avatar